paddling out to an island for an early morning engagement session

Makamae had messaged me a month before their wedding to take some last minute engagement photos and told me her friend was going to take us out on his canoe to an island maybe about a quarter mile paddle offshore. I’ve been to this island a handful of times before and know the paddle out is pretty easy! It’s a calmer beach and “landing” on the island is usually not a problem. This morning was a bit different– the swell coming in was one of the biggest in a while… I think there were a few sets that rolled in and probably reached about 8-10ish feet. Anyways, it’s usually no problem because the waves normally break on one side of the island, but this time, the waves were wrapping around both sides making it pretty hard for us to land on shore. Just imagine two waves breaking towards each other and if you get caught in the middle, you flip or your canoe gets fillllled with water (and keep in mind we have out camera gear on us). Anyyyyways, we decided to paddle out and if it was too dangerous our plan b was to paddle back in and cruise on the inside and take photos back on the beach.

I forgot to mention, Zach (a videographer friend hired by Makamae) came with us too. We were getting ready to head out and I was lucky that I had a dry bag in my truck so I wrapped my camera in a pareo, put it in the dry bag and rolled it shut. Zach on the other hand had his backpack and just wrapped it with a water resistant jacket. We said some prayers, launched the canoe and started paddling out.

It was a gorgeous morning and one of the most beautiful days I’ve ever been out on the water. The big waves were creating this misty and foggy effect on the island but as we started getting closer to the island, the canoe would start going up and down over bigger and bigger waves. We were trying to see whether or not we could make it, but Makamae’s friend said “Ah, we can do it– I can paddle in close, drop you guys off then anchor the canoe out and swim the bags and gear to you guys on my surfboard!”

My heart sank. I don’t know if he realized my entire life was in that bag, but we sent it.

Long story short, our gear got in safe, and it was suchhhh a pretty morning. We had a fun session to kick off the New Year and new chapter for these two. I can’t wait to celebrate their wedding and laugh about this memory look back on and have forever!! xx